Tricky bits in the budget

Polly Peck sniffs out some of the weirder corners of the federal budget … Drug money propping up the surplus … And access to justice takes a biff 

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Twittering courts

Baillieu government punts on a prison construction led recovery … More prisons … More crime … More political swagger ... Waiting to test the new freedom from double jeopardy … Twittering courts … Yarraside Yarns with Sylvia Varnham O'Regan 

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Triumph of remorse

Rehabilitation through admission … Admissions Board in Queensland loses five year battle to keep applicant off the jam roll … Court of Appeal smiles kindly on 66-year-old with an "unsatisfactory past" … Peta Smith reports 

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Word of the day is "client"

Not a client for the purposes of seeking to declare a fee agreement null and void ... But, definitely a client when barristers need to hook into claims against the fidelity fund - in cases where solicitors have misappropriated the loot ... Interesting juggling from Vic Supremes 

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Caledonian capers

Leverhulme goes to Scotland and brings us news about Wee Eck ... The brawling MP for Falkirk ... The life and good works of Dame Elish Angiolini, former Scottish Lord Advocate ... Plus, who's putting the kettle on for Rupert? 

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Disputes quelled

Advocates immunity against suits in negligence alive and kicking ... Deficient pleadings prevented exploration by Court of Appeal of a possible qualification to the immunity ... Family law settlement dispute in Victoria also quelled 

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Russell Keddie admits he grossly overcharged

A long and torturous road ... Three years after proceedings by LSC commenced, Russell Keddie and employed solicitor Philip Scroope make admissions in agreed statements of facts to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal ... Gross overcharging by 46 percent ... Penalties pending 

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Taxing times

Ancient warrior of the bar in tax man's sights … ATO wants blood from former bar councillor and ethics man … Dismay on Palm Plaza 

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Pensioned mediators

Ex-judges as mediators ... Out of court and back to work ... No worry about the barristers' five year rule ... Issues for the judicial pension scheme and the bar rules 

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Ticking all the bruvvers' boxes

Apple Isle underwhelmed by Duncan Kerr's appointment as president of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal … Are Tasmanians trying to tell us something? … Labor mate triumphs …  Support from convicted cleaner ... Map of Tasmania 

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Keddies latest trick

Substantial settlement for Keddies' overcharging … Millionaires want to put damages payouts on lay-by … Template response from AG's office ... Complaints about professional misconduct sent to Bermuda Triangle 

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Supreme Court unleashes body cavity searches

Supreme Court's election rigging ... Court's conservative majority may hatch devilish plan for Affordable Care Act challenge ... Rumsfeld on the lam ... Black hole torture chambers and missing State Department memo ... Strip search decision ... Our Man in Washington reports 

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Steve Mark has to prove who he says he is

Legal Services Commissioner's appointment can be "inferred" ... Fumbling around to find documents to prove that Steve Mark was validly appointed at the time he lodged complaints about personal injury advertising by Robert Bryden & Lee Hagipantelis ... Flurry at ADT hearing 

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Deafening silence

Stillness surrounds the appointment of John McCarthy QC as Australian Ambassador to the Holy See … Silence from DFAT … The great man himself has gone to ground … Happy news withdrawn from bar website … Why all the mystery? 

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Revenge is a kind of wild justice

Roddy Meagher - tall tales and true … Keddies man dumps Woollahra pile … UK clients given cash before they win cases … Manbags on the High Court … Solicitor General gets a frothy top … Revenge of the Queensland bogans … Goings on … 

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Senior judge tunes into Ray Hadley

When it comes to sentencing NSW's chief judge at common law thinks shock jocks have a part to play … Community values from the crime zones … More handy contributions to the "debate" from Ray Hadley, Sydney's number one radio bruiser  

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Moments to Dye for

Six month hearing in the sex harassment court … Commonwealth Bank stumps up a fortune to defend itself and a former employee in the Vivienne Dye case … Landscape littered with exhausted lawyers … Lure of the siren … Devastating judgment 

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Litigation travesty

Lawyers fail to comply with requirements for speedy, efficient proceedings ... Possible costs penalties ... Reference to Queensland Law Society and Bar 'n' Grill ... Reeves J unloads both barrells in Federal Court ... Sir Terence O'Rort reports 

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Beggaring belief

Round-up of latest findings from the Bureau de Spank in Western Australia and Victoria ... All the usual catastrophes ... Fibbing, failure to disclose, false evidence, overcharging, trust account fiddles ... Pierce Hartigan reports  

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Conversations with a cab driver

The woes of being the attorney general of NSW … You almost feel sorry for Greg Smith having to endure Ray Hadley's frothing attacks ... 2GB's tough guy gets stuck into the AG ... Laura Norda 

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